Chromo-polarizability and pipi final state interaction

The chromo-polarizability of a quarkonium state is a measure of the amplitude of the $E1$-$E1$ chromo-electric interaction of the quarkonium with soft gluon fields and can be measured in the heavy quarkonium decays. Based on the chiral unitary approach, formulas with modification caused by the $S$ wave $\pi\pi$ final state interaction (FSI) for measuring the chromo-polarizabilities are given. It is shown that the effect of the $S$ wave $\pi\pi$ FSI is very important in extracting chromo-polarizabilities from the experimental data. The resultant values with the FSI are reduced to about 1/3 of those determined without the FSI. The consequences of the FSI correction in the $J/\psi$-nucleon scattering near the threshold are also discussed. The estimated lower bound of the total cross section is reduced from about 17 mb to 2.9 mb, which agrees with the experimental data point and is compatible with the previously estimated values in the literature. In order to understand the interaction of heavy quarkonia with light hadrons at low energies better and to obtain the chromo-polarizabilities of quarkonia accurately, more data should be accumulated. This can be done in the $J/\psi \to \pi^+\pi^-l^+l^-$ decay at BES-III and CLEO-c and in the $\Upsilon \to \pi^+\pi^-l^+l^-$ decay at B factories.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, ReVTeX4. Version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Effects of Electroacupuncture on Benign Prostate Hyperplasia Patients with Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms: A Single-Blinded, Randomized Controlled Trial

We tested the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients. A total of 42 BPH patients with LUTS were randomly assigned to either the EA group (EG), received 2 Hz EA for 20 min twice/week for a total of twelve treatments, or a sham EA group (CG), received sham EA. The increase of voiding volume, average flow rate, and maximal flow rate in the EG were 32.2 ± 104.4 mL, 1.2 ± 1.6 mL/sec, and 2.3 ± 3.7 mL/sec, respectively, from baseline value (before EA) using the measurement of an uroflowmetry. These increases were greater than −37.9 ± 120.4, −0.22 ± 2.7, and −0.3 ± 4.3, respectively, in the CG (P = .038, .026, and .030, resp.). The changes of prostate special antigen and international prostatic symptom score were not significantly different between two groups (P = .573, .175, resp.), suggesting the clinical improvement of 2 Hz EA was quite limited to the LUTS of patients with BPH

A rare, highly aggressive primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the kidney: Case report and literature review

AbstractWe report a case of a 14-year-old boy who initially suffered from a sudden onset of abdominal pain for 2 weeks with a protrusive soft mass over the left upper abdomen. No obvious symptomatic symptoms or body weight loss were observed. However, early lung metastasis was detected after an initial computed tomographic examination. Even after we performed salvage en bloc resection of the huge retroperitoneal tumor after primary neoadjuvant chemotherapy, the final outcome was still poor. A diagnosis according to radiologic findings was uncharacteristic. Finally, a pathologic diagnosis based on histologic and immunohistochemical results revealed a rare renal peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor

Pulsed laser deposition of hexagonal GaN-on-Si(100) template for MOCVD applications

Growth of hexagonal GaN on Si(100) templates via pulsed laser deposition (PLD) was investigated for the further development of GaN-on-Si technology. The evolution of the GaN growth mechanism at various growth times was monitored by SEM and TEM, which indicated that the GaN growth mode changes gradually from island growth to layer growth as the growth time increases up to 2 hours. Moreover, the high-temperature operation (1000°C) of the PLD meant no significant GaN meltback occurred on the GaN template surface. The completed GaN templates were subjected to MOCVD treatment to regrow a GaN layer. The results of X-ray diffraction analysis and photoluminescence measurements show not only the reliability of the GaN template, but also the promise of the PLD technique for the development of GaN-on-Si technology

HuR cytoplasmic expression is associated with increased cyclin A expression and poor outcome with upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma

BACKGROUND: HuR is an RNA-binding protein that post-transcriptionally modulates the expressions of various target genes implicated in carcinogenesis, such as CCNA2 encoding cyclin A. No prior study attempted to evaluate the significance of HuR expression in a large cohort with upper urinary tract urothelial carcinomas (UTUCs). METHODS: In total, 340 cases of primary localized UTUC without previous or concordant bladder carcinoma were selected. All of these patients received ureterectomy or radical nephroureterectomy with curative intents. Pathological slides were reviewed, and clinical findings were collected. Immunostaining for HuR and cyclin A was performed and evaluated by using H-score. The results of cytoplasmic HuR and nuclear cyclin A expressions were correlated with disease-specific survival (DSS), metastasis-free survival (MeFS), urinary bladder recurrence-free survival (UBRFS), and various clinicopathological factors. RESULTS: HuR cytoplasmic expression was significantly related to the pT status, lymph node metastasis, a higher histological grade, the pattern of invasion, vascular and perineurial invasion, and cyclin A expression (p = 0.005). Importantly, HuR cytoplasmic expression was strongly associated with a worse DSS (p < 0.0001), MeFS (p < 0.0001), and UBRFS (p = 0.0370) in the univariate analysis, and the first two results remained independently predictive of adverse outcomes (p = 0.038, relative risk [RR] = 1.996 for DSS; p = 0.027, RR = 1.880 for MeFS). Cyclin A nuclear expression was associated with a poor DSS (p = 0.0035) and MeFS (p = 0.0015) in the univariate analysis but was not prognosticatory in the multivariate analyses. High-risk patients (pT3 or pT4 with/without nodal metastasis) with high HuR cytoplasmic expression had better DSS if adjuvant chemotherapy was performed (p = 0.015). CONCLUSIONS: HuR cytoplasmic expression was correlated with adverse phenotypes and cyclin A overexpression and also independently predictive of worse DSS and MeFS, suggesting its roles in tumorigenesis or carcinogenesis and potentiality as a prognostic marker of UTUC. High HuR cytoplasmic expression might identify patients more likely to be beneficial for adjuvant chemotherapy

Dynamically generated 0^+ heavy mesons in a heavy chiral unitary approach

In terms of the heavy chiral Lagrangian and the unitarized coupled-channel scattering amplitude, interaction between the heavy meson and the light pseudoscalar meson is studied. By looking for the pole of scattering matrix on an appropriate Riemann sheet, a $DK$ bound state $D_{s0}^*$ with the mass of $2.312\pm0.041$ GeV is found. This state can be associated as the narrow $D_{sJ}^*(2317)$ state found recently. In the same way, a $B{\bar K}$ bound state $B_{s0}^*$ is found, and its mass of $5.725\pm0.039$ GeV is predicted. The spectra of $D_0^*$ and $B_0^*$ with $I=1/2$ are further investigated. One broad and one narrow states are predicted in both charm and bottom sectors. The coupling constants and decay widths of the predicted states are also calculated.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure. One numerical error in Eq.16 correcte

On the structure of the pi pi invariant mass spectra of the Upsilon(4S)-->Upsilon(1S,2S) pi^+ pi^- decays

We perform a model-independent analysis for recently reported data of the $\pi^+\pi^-$ invariant mass spectra in the $\Upsilon(4S)\to\Upsilon(1S,2S)\pi^+\pi^-$ decays and point out that there does exist a broad peak below 0.6 GeV in the data of the $\Upsilon(4S)\to\Upsilon(1S)\pi^+\pi^-$ decay, which is analogous to that in the $\Upsilon(3S)\to\Upsilon(1S)\pi^+\pi^-$ decay. With the data of $\Upsilon(4S)$ decays, we further test our model developed for studying the puzzle in the $\Upsilon(3S)\to\Upsilon(1S)\pi^+\pi^-$ decay. The result shows that with such a model, all the $\pi^+\pi^-$ invariant mass spectra of $\Upsilon(4S)$ decays can be described. We also predict the $\cos\theta_{\pi}^*$ distributions of $\Upsilon(4S)\to\Upsilon(1S,2S)\pi^+\pi^-$ decays, which can be used to justify our model prediction.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures. Extended to include new data; title changed. Version accepted for publication in Phys. Lett.

Dynamically generated 1^+ heavy mesons

By using a heavy chiral unitary approach, we study the $S$ wave interactions between heavy vector meson and light pseudoscalar meson. By searching for poles of the unitary scattering amplitudes in the appropriate Riemann sheets, several $1^+$ heavy states are found. In particular, a $D^*K$ bound state with a mass of $2.462\pm0.010$ GeV which should be associated with the recently observed $D_{s1}(2460)$ state is obtained. In the same way, a $B^*{\bar K}$ bound state ($B_{s1}$) with mass of $5.778\pm0.007$ GeV in the bottom sector is predicted. The spectra of the dynamically generated $D_1$ and $B_1$ states in the $I=1/2$ channel are also calculated. One broad state and one narrow state are found in both the charmed and bottom sectors. The coupling constants and decay widths of the predicted states are further investigated.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures. Version accepted for publication in Phys. Lett.

Low-density lipoprotein electronegativity and risk of death after acute coronary syndromes: A case-cohort analysis.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol (LDL-C) promotes atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), with changes in LDL electronegativity modulating its pro-atherogenic/pro-thrombotic effects. Whether such alterations associate with adverse outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS), a patient population at particularly high cardiovascular risk, remains unknown. METHODS This is a case-cohort study using data from a subset of 2619 ACS patients prospectively recruited at four university hospitals in Switzerland. Isolated LDL was chromatographically separated into LDL particles with increasing electronegativity (L1-L5), with the L1-L5 ratio serving as a proxy of overall LDL electronegativity. Untargeted lipidomics revealed lipid species enriched in L1 (least) vs. L5 (most electronegative subfraction). Patients were followed at 30 days and 1 year. The mortality endpoint was reviewed by an independent clinical endpoint adjudication committee. Multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) were calculated using weighted Cox regression models. RESULTS Changes in LDL electronegativity were associated with all-cause mortality at 30 days (aHR, 2.13, 95% CI, 1.07-4.23 per 1 SD increment in L1/L5; p=.03) and 1 year (1.84, 1.03-3.29; p=.04), with a notable association with cardiovascular mortality (2.29; 1.21-4.35; p=.01; and 1.88; 1.08-3.28; p=.03). LDL electronegativity superseded several risk factors for the prediction of 1-year death, including LDL-C, and conferred improved discrimination when added to the updated GRACE score (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.74 vs. 0.79, p=.03). Top 10 lipid species enriched in L1 vs. L5 were: cholesterol ester (CE) (18:2), CE (20:4), free fatty acid (FA) (20:4), phosphatidyl-choline (PC) (36:3), PC (34:2), PC (38:5), PC (36:4), PC (34:1), triacylglycerol (TG) (54:3), and PC (38:6) (all p < .001), with CE (18:2), CE (20:4), PC (36:3), PC (34:2), PC (38:5), PC (36:4), TG (54:3), and PC (38:6) independently associating with fatal events during 1-year of follow-up (all p < .05). CONCLUSIONS Reductions in LDL electronegativity are linked to alterations of the LDL lipidome, associate with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality beyond established risk factors, and represent a novel risk factor for adverse outcomes in patients with ACS. These associations warrant further validation in independent cohorts